Tornadus
QC: [PK Gaming] [Snunch] [JabbatheGriffin]
GP: [] []
[Overview]
- Prankster is pretty cool, giving Tornadus priority on most non-attacking moves such as Taunt, Bulk Up, Rain Dance, etc.
- Monstrous base 125 SpA, great base 115 Atk, and excellent base 111 Spe.
- Pure Flying-type gives it only 3 weaknesses, albeit to some of the more common attacking types such as Electric and Ice.
- Powerful STAB Hurricane and Acrobatics.
- Small but precise movepool.
- Below average defenses.
[SET]
name: Rain Dance
move 1: Rain Dance
move 2: Hurricane
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Taunt / U-turn
item: Life Orb / Damp Rock
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
- This set takes advantage of Tornadus's priority Rain Dance, thanks to its ability, Prankster.
- In the rain, Hurricane becomes an absolutely terrifying move, sporting 120 Base Power, boosted by STAB, perfect accuracy, and a 30% chance of confusion to boot.
- Coming off of Tornadus's base huge base 125 Special Attack, Hurricane hits ERRYTHANG hard as hell, other than Chansey.
- Focus Blast rounds off the coverage nicely, dealing a large amount of damage to Steel-types that resist Hurricane, though frailer Steel-types can often be 2HKOed by Hurricane, especially with prior damage.
- The last move is highly dependent on your team's needs; Taunt is probably the best option as it prevents things like Chansey from healing and using status moves on Tornadus, and is almost foolproof thanks to the priority granted by Prankster.
- U-turn allows Tornadus to bring in a rain sweeper such as Kingdra or Ludicolo.
- Grass Knot is a good move to hit Specially Defensive Quagsire; however, it still takes a large amount from Hurricane, so it's somewhat unnecessary.
- Hammer Arm along with some Attack EVs and a Naive nature is an option to get past Chansey, but the investment must be significant, and takes away from Tornadus's special attacking prowess.
- Life Orb is a must to increase the damage output of Tornadus's moves, while Damp Rock increases the turns of rain.
- The EV spread is simple. It maximizes Speed and Special Attack along with a Timid nature, with the last 4 EVs thrown into Special Defense for an odd HP stat (takes less damage from Stealth Rock).
- Since Tornadus has an unfortunate weakness to Stealth Rock, teammates who can use Rapid Spin such as Donphan and Hitmontop are greatly appreciated.
- Both of the aforementioned Pokemon also have good type synergy with Tornadus, with both resisting Rock-type attacks and Donphan being immune to Electric-type attacks.
- Azumarill is a great partner to abuse Rain, takes out special walls, and has Superpower to deal with Empoleon.
- Zapdos is an excellent teammate for its ability to abuse a 100% accurate STAB Thunder, can also set up Rain Dance, and its quite bulky, especially with access to Roost.
- Unfortunately, it shares two common weaknesses to Ice- and Rock-type moves with Tornadus.
[SET]
name: Bulk Up
move 1: Bulk Up
move 2: Acrobatics
move 3: Brick Break
move 4: Taunt / Substitute
item: Flying Gem
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Spd / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
- With Tornadus's great base 115 Attack stat, it can easily pull off a Bulk Up set, especially with access to Prankster, giving it a priority Bulk Up and Taunt.
- Tornadus also gets STAB Acrobatics, and in tandem with a Flying Gem, it can deal major damage in a single hit - a staggering 247 Base Power on the first turn Acrobatics is used, including STAB.
- Acrobatics + Flying Gem already hits hard enough, and with the boosts from Bulk Up.... LOL
- Brick Break hits those pesky Steel-types coming in to wall Tornadus.
- Taunt is undoubtedly the best choice for the final moveslot, as it allows Tornadus to set up on status users.
- However, Substitute is another great option as it also blocks status, and weaker physical attacks will usually not be able to break through after a Bulk Up or two.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- Hammer Arm is a more powerful alternative to Brick Break, but comes at the cost of lowering your Speed with every use.
- A third coverage move or support move could replace Taunt, but Tornadus already has great coverage with its two moves and Taunt is usually very helpful in most situations.
- Flying Gem is a necessary item for Acrobatics to be at full power.
- A Jolly nature along with maximum investment in Attack and Speed is necessary for Bulk Up Tornadus.
- Teammates who can rid the field of Stealth Rock such as Donphan and Hitmontop are always appreciated, as Stealth Rock strips away 25% of Tornadus's health each time it switches in, somewhat hindering its sweeping potential.
- Teammates who can eliminate physically bulky Pokemon such as Donphan, Porygon2, or Chansey are greatly appreciated, as Brick Break's mediocre Base Power will more often than not be a letdown unless Tornadus has already garnered several boosts.
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Hurricane
move 2: Focus Blast
move 3: Grass Knot / Air Slash
move 4: U-turn
item: Choice Specs
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
- Choice Specs makes Tornadus into a deadly powerhouse, especially if provided with rain support.
- Hurricane is a ridiculously powerful STAB move coming off of Tornadus's great base 125 Special Attack.
- Focus Blast is for those annoying Steel-types, but will rarely find use, as Hurricane 2HKOes most Steel-types that aren't defensively oriented, especially after a bit of prior damage.
- Likewise, Grass Knot is a mainly filler move that hits the annoying bulky Water-types such as Suicune and Milotic for heavy damage.
- Air Slash can be used over Grass Knot for a more reliable STAB move outside of rain, but has relatively low Base Power.
- U-turn provides Tornadus with a sort of scouting capability, seeking out things that may switch into it and preparing accordingly.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
- The EV spread along with a Timid nature maximizes Speed and Special Attack.
- This set is even more heavily reliant on Rapid Spin support, since as a Choiced Pokemon, it will most likely be switching numerous times.
- Donphan and Hitmontop are probably some of the best candidates in UU for their good synergy with Tornadus.
- Rain Dance support is an absolute must for this set, as it does not carry Rain Dance itself.
- Uxie and other bulky Pokemon can easily set up rain for Tornadus and other Pokemon such as Ludicolo and Kingdra to abuse.
[Other Options]
- Tornadus has a decent amount of support moves that are granted priority thanks to Prankster, but most are not necessary, are better on more defensively oriented Pokemon, and in some cases, are gimmicks at best.
- Of those support moves, only Rain Dance, Substitute and Tailwind are even worth mentioning.
- Regardless, Taunt is usually the better option, except on the Rain Dance set, where it utilizes both Rain Dance and Taunt.
- Tornadus can run a mixed set, but it is rather underwhelming from both sides, and prefers to go either fully physical or fully special.
[Checks and Counters]
- Next to nothing outside of Chansey can stomach repeated STAB Hurricanes from either the Rain Dance set or the Choice Specs set, and even Chansey can become confused and unable to heal thanks to Taunt.
- The Bulk Up set is slightly easier to counter, as physically bulky Pokemon such as Donphan can take a hit or two and hit back with a super effective Head Smash or Ice Shard.
- However, if Tornadus has accumulated a few boosts, it hits very hard with its STAB Acrobatics and won't even be KOed by some super effective physical moves thanks to the Defense boosts from Bulk Up.
- The best way to counter Tornadus is to bring in a faster Choice Scarf user such as Flygon to revenge it.
- Bulky Electric-types, especially Zapdos, are great counters any of Tornadus's sets due to its resistances to Flying-, Fighting-, and Grass-type moves.
- Raikou and Jolteon are also decent checks to Tornadus, being naturally faster than it. However, they cannot directly switch into a Focus Blast, as it will do a great amount of damage.
- Empoleon can easily take a Hurricane and live a Life Orb Focus Blast thanks to its excellent Special Defense, and KO in return with Ice Beam after Stealth Rock and Life Orb recoil.
- Specially defensive Registeel is also a good counter due to its enormous Special Defense, and can paralyze, Toxic, and wear Tornadus down with Seismic Toss.
[Dream World]
<p>Tornadus receives the ability Defiant from the Dream World, which raises its Attack stat sharply whenever another stat is lowered by the opponent. Overall, this is a decent ability, and might even work well on the Bulk Up set, but it is generally inferior to Prankster.</p>
